Five times in the past 14 months, lawsuits have been filed against the city of Anderson or the Anderson Police Department over officer conduct. The Independent Mail spent three months looking into the cases and talking to those involved about why the suits were filed, what happened and how the city responded.

Among our findings:

Prior to the latest suits, lawsuits against the city and police department have been rare in recent history.

Lawsuits have been settled without a public vote by the Anderson City Council, and some council members were not aware the suits had been filed.

The total cost to settle the claims was $130,000 and the largest payout was $55,000.